Salesforce adoption challenges and tips for success
The leading CRM platform, which was once intended to be a tool for Customer Relationship Management, has become a monster that can fulfill almost any automation requirement for companies across multiple industries.
Unfortunately, alongside a product packed with tons of out-of-the-box features and freedom for customization, comes the possibility that users fail to fully leverage the platform in all its potential. Bad training or the lack of it, clunky user interfaces, bad data quality, and many others can cause parts of your Salesforce automations to fall through the cracks and will likely affect your ROI.
Table of Content
- Why adoption matters
- Common scenarios causing bad adoption
- Adoption strategies and tips
- Measuring Salesforce adoption
Adoption matters because ROI matters
You may have implemented Salesforce, even if done so with great talent, but you will not see a return on your investment unless users actually adopt it as expected.
Salesforce is intended to automate business processes by widely reducing the amount of manual and repetitive labor, like manipulating data on those old Excel sheets, massively mailing, and others.
With this in mind, it’s natural that Salesforce is a synonym for saving money in the long run.
The top scenarios causing poor Salesforce Adoption
1. Resistance to Change:
The resistance to change within organizations often stems from a deeply ingrained comfort with existing processes. Salesforce introduces a paradigm shift in how tasks are managed, and this transition can be met with apprehension and reluctance. Consider the scenario of a sales team accustomed to traditional spreadsheets and manual data entry. Introducing Salesforce’s automated lead management system may face pushback as team members grapple with the unfamiliarity of the new approach.
2. Inadequate Training:
Insufficient training is a pervasive issue that hampers successful Salesforce adoption. Inadequately trained employees may feel overwhelmed by the platform’s expansive features, leading to frustration and a lack of confidence in utilizing Salesforce to its full extent. For example, a sales team without proper training on Salesforce’s reporting capabilities may struggle to extract meaningful insights, limiting their ability to make data-driven decisions.
3. Poor Data Quality:
The importance of data quality cannot be overstated in a CRM system, and poor data quality is a prevalent issue undermining Salesforce adoption. Inaccuracies and incomplete data compromise the platform’s ability to provide actionable insights. Consider a scenario where duplicate records and inconsistent data entry lead to an inaccurate view of customer interactions, impeding effective sales and marketing strategies.
4. Lack of Leadership Support:
Successful Salesforce adoption requires unwavering support from leadership. When executives and managers fail to champion the use of Salesforce, employees may not perceive it as a priority. Imagine a scenario where leadership is not actively engaged in the platform. In such cases, employees may question the importance of Salesforce, leading to a lack of enthusiasm and commitment throughout the organization.
The consequences of suboptimal Salesforce Adoption
1. Missed Revenue Opportunities:
Incomplete utilization of Salesforce’s sales and marketing tools can result in missed revenue opportunities. For instance, a sales team not leveraging the platform’s lead scoring and tracking capabilities may struggle to prioritize high-value prospects. Leads may fall through the cracks, data goes outdated, and companies end up wasting resources on outbound campaigns as well, potentially losing out on lucrative deals.
2. Decreased Productivity:
We very frequently see a bad understanding of how Salesforce works turn into misuse of its features.
Users who aren’t correctly trained face the inconvenience of seeing errors in the screen, experience blockers, and are unable to fluently perform their day-to-day tasks which were supposed to now be more agile.
This eventually leads to catastrophic consequences for the organization, which scales with passing time. Data is stored inconsistently in Salesforce, syncs badly with third-party systems, reporting breaks, amongst others, and we are forced to perform data audits and entire database refactors to fix the data retroactively.
3. Data Inconsistency:
Inaccurate data input and a lack of adherence to data quality standards can result in inconsistencies and errors. This compromises the reliability of reports and analytics, making it challenging for organizations to derive meaningful insights. For example, if a sales team relies on inaccurate data for forecasting, the organization may make misguided decisions based on flawed information.
Adoption strategies and tips
1. Comprehensive Training Programs:
Addressing the training gap is paramount for successful Salesforce adoption. Organizations can implement comprehensive training programs that go beyond basic onboarding.
Salesforce provides a huge community with every free training you will ever need to navigate your Salesforce experience, and it’s called Trailhead.
This platform provides content for any role in your organization and it’s organized into “Paths” and “Modules”, making it easy to understand which set of training best fits your needs. Yes, you can customize your routes by taking any you want, and it’s all for free.
When required, at Ropen we like to craft specific routes for our customers towards the delivery date of our implementations or during consultations.
Change Management and Communication:
Proactive change management and effective communication are critical components of successful Salesforce adoption. Organizations should foster a culture of open communication, addressing concerns and clearly articulating the benefits of Salesforce adoption. Leadership plays a pivotal role in this, actively communicating the importance of the CRM system and its alignment with organizational goals.
User-Friendly Customization:
Tailoring Salesforce to the specific needs of the organization is essential for user acceptance. Ensure that the platform is not just functional but also user-friendly by customizing layouts, fields, and workflows to match the natural flow of business processes. For instance, creating customized dashboards that align with the key performance indicators of different departments can enhance the user experience and encourage widespread adoption.
Data Governance and Quality Assurance:
Implementing robust data governance policies is crucial for maintaining data integrity. Regularly audit and clean data to prevent inaccuracies. Provide users with comprehensive guidelines on data entry best practices to ensure consistent and reliable information. A well-governed data environment ensures that Salesforce remains a trustworthy source for decision-making, driving user confidence and adoption.
Leadership Engagement:
Leadership engagement is pivotal for fostering a culture of Salesforce adoption. Showcase the value of Salesforce by encouraging executives and managers to actively use and promote the platform. Leadership buy-in not only reinforces the importance of Salesforce but also sets an example for the entire organization, encouraging widespread adoption from top to bottom.
Measuring User Adoption
I hear you say, “Can I track user adoption?” well, you are in luck, as there are metrics to measure success. Specifically Salesforce provides an out of the box set of reports, in this free AppExchange package called Salesforce Adoption Dashboards.
This package focuses on identifying whether users are regularly logging in and using key features in Salesforce.
Additionally you can customize further to fit your own needs. In case you require help to measure key metrics for your business, feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation call.